Mary: Summer in Harrogate
by misshea
Summary: Set in modern era. Jane and Elizabeth have reunited with their boyfriends Charlie and Liam. Wickham is under bars for abduction. Now summer has come, and it's time for the third Bennet sister to explore life and love. Mary is twenty and has applied for a summer job in Harrogate, near Liam and Elizabeth's country house. Will she find her happy ever after?
1. Chapter 1 - First Day in Harrogate

God, the building was so huge. The corridor was so wide. She was so small.

How could she ever do this?

"Come on, Mary", the little voice in her head said. "It's just a shopping centre."

Mary nervously touched her hair. It was dirty blonde, curly and short: it used to be straightened and long, but she had gone to the hairdresser's for a small makeover. Kitty and Lydia had assured her that it would be the best haircut for her, and she had agreed it looked good on her. She almost looked girly.

A tall, thin and athletic woman breezed past her. She was heavily perfumed and made up, her pink little dress showed long and perfectly tanned legs and her heels made "click click clack" as she walked by. Her hair was golden blonde.

Mary sighed.

"It's okay", the little voice chanted. "You don't need heels, perfume and skin tan to get this job at the bar."

But still. She wished she could be a little bit more like that perfect woman. A little bit more like Jane. Or Elizabeth.

And a little bit less like the average girl that she was.

She knew that nobody would call her beautiful. At most she could be considered cute; but she didn't smile often. So she looked like anybody's serious, boring little sister. And that she probably was. Witty banter with strangers, flirty conversations with boys, jokes else than sarcastic were unknown to her. Her clothes were discreet, shapeless and hid her androgynous figure. Maybe she should go buy some new clothes with Kitty and Lydia, after all.

Where was the Crock Bar anyway? Marcus, the manager, had sent her a map of the shopping centre and even written directions over the phone. The problem was, she had no idea where she was right now.

It would have been better if Marcus had been here. He was the father of a friend of a friend. She did not know him well, but at least it would have been one familiar face in Harrogate. But Marcus was on holiday, and he was being replaced by a temporary manager that she knew nothing about.

Mary looked around her, searching for a sign with a big red point reading "You are HERE". There was none. Well, she would have to ask that man leaning against the wall. He seemed bored and was staring into space, so it would probably not bother him if she disturbed him for a little while.

And he didn't look mean. Plus, if he tried to harm her, she would only have to yell to get attention.

She slowly came closer. "Um, hello?" she tried. "Excuse me, sir?"

Why wasn't he turning around? He surely had heard her. Maybe he was in a fool mood. And he was rather well-built.

Mary shivered and stepped back. She was supposed to get to the bar at 8, so she still had ten minutes left to find her way.

Just then, the man turned around.

Correction: he seemed _angry_ and was _glaring_ at her. And he was very cute, too.

* * *

There are days where you hate the world. Everything, even the innocent passerby who smiled dumbly at you, the birds that were singing too loudly, the blue sky that was just too blue. Today was one of these days for Luke.

The day before, he had joined the traditional Sunday family lunch. It was going smoothly until his mother had started talking about what she had heard from some ladies at a party. He had seen red. Did she think him capable of dating a girl like Cheryl, sleeping with her and then coolly breaking up? He was no heartbreaker; if Cheryl fancied spreading fake sob stories just to get his attention, he would not stop her from losing her time. But that his mom would believe it? A painful argument had ensued, Lester Senior had sided with his wife to declare that Luke was a sinner, was leading his life astray, etc.

Then, later in the evening, he had received a call from his father's assistant - his dad had not even _deigned_ to call his depraved son - _ordering_ him to go to Harrogate and supervise the Crock Bar there. He had been told that Mr. Lester was worried for him, wanted him to take some rest and take some easy work. He had held back an acerbic answer, namely that he was also Mr Lester, co-CEO of Crock Food and not some stubborn kid.

But what irked Luke most was that there was already a temp manager in Harrogate's Crock Bar. A lady. Acquainted with his mother. And he didn't need anyone to play matchmaker for him. Relaxing holidays! And how!

What was _that_ girl over there doing anyway? Was she waiting for her boyfriend? From the way she nervously studied her phone, he supposed that she was reading a message - or maybe she was expecting one. Why was everyone obsessed with love? It was disgusting! He resolutely turned his back on her.

As anger was simmering in his brain, he heard someone call him and turned back around.

It was the phone girl.

God, what did she want? Had she recognized him? Was she the temp manager?

"What?" he barked.

Then suddenly, he noticed something very strange. The girl looked terrified. Her hazel eyes were wide open and gazed at him apprehensively, and she was slowly backing away. Her mouth opened and closed again, repeating something that sounded like "sorry".

That was new.

He had officially turned into an ogre.

"I'm sorry," he said in a gentler tone. "How can I help?"

The girl didn't look any less frightened.

"Um, I'm really sorry", she stammered. "Do you know where we are?"

She thrust her phone in front of her, as though she wanted to put some space between us.

He saw a map of the Victoria shopping centre. With a Crock Bar point. The message had been sent by Marcus Hurtado, who he knew was a Crock Bar manager.

So _this_ was the temp manager. A girl that looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She looked no more than twenty, and her clothes were those of a teenager.

He definitely needed to have a little talk with his mother.

Besides, since when did his mom start hanging out with girls wearing oversized glasses, pretty little blouses, flowered skirts and BenSimon sneakers?

"So you're going to the Crock Bar?"

She stared at him suspiciously, as though he was some kind of dangerous stalker.

"Um..."

"Look," he interrupted, slightly annoyed by the girl's behaviour, "I'm going there too. How about you follow me?"

"O... okay. Thank you very much", she added after a moment.

Well, at least she was not as talkative as his mother's other acquaintances. Maybe he would actually relax this summer.

* * *

Mary quietly followed the man, trying not to question his intentions too much. He was surely just a customer. Definitely not an employer. Otherwise he would not be dressed like that, casual but still smart. Moreover, he looked quite rich.

After a few minutes of silent walk, the two arrived at the Crock Bar.

Mary found it very pretty. The large glass windows let the light in the shop, the design was modern and stylish, and everything was bright and clean. Well, at least she would be working in an sthetic environment.

Two boys were busy behind the counter, two other boys were cleaning the ground and the tables, and yet another boy was talking with... the bombshell she had seen a few minutes before.

What was she doing here?

Anyway, the other employees were wearing uniforms, they looked her age and seemed nice enough.

She heard the man gasping in surprise.

"So you're not the temp manager?"

"Um," she replied, unsure if he was even talking to her. "No."

"So you're a customer?"

"No, I've just been hired for the summer."

"What a shame," she heard him mutter, but it was probably not intended for her to hear it. Still, it was rude.

Just then, the woman saw them and got up. She walked to the man. Click click clack.

"Hi!" she said, and even her voice was perfect, like those voice-offs in TV documentaries. She put a hand on the man's arm and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm glad to meet you, finally! Your mother was lovely. Please, say hello to her for me, next time you'll see her!"

"She's not in Harrogate," the man cooly replied, disengaging his arm from her grip. Obviously he was not half as glad to meet her. "And I think that this is the girl you've hired for the summer," he said, pushing her forward.

"Oh, hi!" the woman said, in no way unsettled. "I'm Kelly, the temp manager!"

"Hello," Mary replied, reassured by her enthusiasm. "I'm Mary Bennet. Do you need the..."

She awkwardly tried to fish out Marcus' letter in her bag. The sulky man stared at her while Kelly continuously smiled.

"It's okay! Don't bother about that. It's nice to meet you, Mary!"

She stepped forward and hugged her affectionately.

"We're both new here, and we're the only girls," she whispered in her ear. "I hope we'll be friends!"

Dumbstruck, Mary hesitantly hugged her back. Kelly looked like Jane.

Behind Kelly's shoulder, she saw the stranger raising his eyebrows and smiling amusedly at them.

"Hi Mary," he said, waving his hand. "I'm Luke Lester, the temp co-manager."

* * *

A few hours later, Mary had finished her first shift of the summer. It was not too exhausting working in the morning. There were few customers, and those who came ate breakfast in silence and disappeared without any further demands. At noon, it was a bit busier: businessmen, young people, families came for lunch, and as a result there was also more noise.

But Mary liked it. The job was not too difficult to understand, although it was exhausting, it was nice to bring a smile to all those faces, and Kelly and the guys were lovely. She did not dare get near Luke, though. He was a bit frightening this morning, and she felt uneasy around him.

As she got out of the shopping center, on Station Parade, she called Elizabeth. Her half-sister answered quickly.

"So? How was it?"

"It was great," Mary reassured her. "The coworkers are really nice and that's a great thing. There are five boys: Patrick, Hugh, Tim, Sunny and Oliver. We're gonna catch a drink together some time in the week. Turns out I'm the only one new here." Marcus had hired her for the only catering job at the bar. She made a mental note to herself: thank him later and buy him chocolate or whatever he liked.

"No girls among the employees?"

Mary smiled. Typical of her firmly feminist sister.

"Nope, sorry. But there's Kelly, the manager. And she's super nice. I was stressing so much over that, so... whhoooh! Though she uses way too many exclamation points."

Lizzie laughed.

"Hey, Mary?"

"Yeah?"

"You know I'm really proud of my little sister, don't you?"

Moved, Mary smiled and let out a soft "thank you".

"How about your apartment in Bradford?"

Mary had chosen that city, mainly because it was cheap and she could get to Harrogate and to Elizabeth's boyfriend's country house in one hour by car.

"Dunno, I haven't seen it yet. I'll see you at five, okay?"

"Take care, Mary, see you."

Mary smiled and hung up. She still had to call Kitty and Lydia, Jane, Anna and her mom.

"Hey, Mary! Wait!"

Oh no. Luke Lester.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Apartment

Mary slowed her pace, turned around and stared at him with a puzzled look. She didn't seem really glad to see him.

But hell, he really needed her now. The boys were looking admiredly at his Armani suit and Kelly was chattering unabatedly about how beautiful Harrogate was, why she never came here and how she regretted it so very much. Unless pretexting a phone call or catching up with Mary, he was stuck with them.

He didn't want Mary not to like him. However, he was the only one she had not talked to yet, and he intended to change that.

"Wanna go get lunch somewhere?" he asked, with the friendliest smile he could.

She shook her head.

"Nah, sorry. Gotta go."

"Oh." Well, so much for his effort. "Where are you going?"

"Bradford."

"Oh, is that where you live?"

She shook her head again.

"Just for holiday", she precised.

The message her short replies were conveying was clear. "I don't want to talk to you. Go away."

Annoyed, Luke thought of leaving, but he had to go back to the Crock Bar and he couldn't do so if the Armani fans and the chatterbox were still here. One look behind... Yep, they were still here.

"So where do you live?"

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Hertfordshire. Well, now I live in Paris."

"You study there, right?"

She nodded.

"I studied in Cambridge", he explained, hoping that it would encourage her to talk to him. I majored in economics. Then I spent a gap year in the US." Well, that was not entirely true. His father had sent him to help the president of Crock Food USA. But she didn't need to know that, of course. "Now I live in London. The apartment's great, you can see London Eye, Big Ben, well, you know."

She looked up and her lips curved into a tiny, shy smile. "Wow. Lucky you."

He grinned, happy to have squeezed a smile out of her.

"Look," he said, more seriously, "I'm sorry about this morning. I swear I'm not a grumpy bear all the time. I was..."

"It's okay." She cut him short.

"I'm sorry that I..."

"Really. It's okay."

They walked in awkward silence for a few more feet.

Luke threw a look backwards. The six fellows had disappeared.

"Well..." He was thinking of a polite way to take his leave. "I'm gonna go back inside. You're sure you don't wanna buy a sandwich or something?"

"It's fine."

He scribbled his number on a scrap number and told her to call him whenever she felt like it.

"Thank you", she whispered, and then, with a little wave of the hand, she was gone.

* * *

Mary could still feel Luke's eyes on her back as she walked away.

She knew he was looking at her, watching her disappear like in those romantic dramas Kitty and Lydia were fond of.

Or maybe he was not. Why would he be interested in a girl like her when he had a woman like Kelly within his reach?

Her nervousness was growing uncontrollably. She felt as though she was at the centre of a stage and everyone was watching her, waiting for her to trip, sneeze or bump into a pole.

Mary had never been comfortable around boys. It was probably due to the fact that she had grown up among women.

Her father, Thomas Bennet, had married twice: first with Maddie Weiner, now Gardiner, Jane's and Elizabeth's mother, then with Fanny Gardiner, Maddie's new husband's sister, and the mother of Kitty and Lydia. Mary had been a mistake, born at some point inbetween after a drunken one-night-stand.

Thomas didn't visit often, because Fanny didn't like Mary and the _idea_ that she existed (it was the same for Jane and Elizabeth). It had not really bothered Mary. As long as he kept sending money and presents from time to time, she knew that he had not _completely_ forgotten her.

Unlike her other sisters, Mary had been raised by a single mother. Lauren Silberman had never married and did not intend to.

Lauren didn't like men. She hated them. She used them. Mary had gathered that it was because of an unfortunate relation with a despicable man many years ago, but she didn't know the details.

Her mother systematically disapproved of her male acquaintances, her male friends, her male relatives. No man was allowed to cross the threshold of her house. Mary's half-sisters, Maddie and even Fanny might be welcome, but the rule forbidding male human beings to enter the Silberman household was unyielding.

So, as a consequence, Mary had never learnt how to act in front of boys. Especially cute boys.

And Luke was cute.

He was just the right height, not too tall, not too small, his chestnut hair was tousled and wavy, and he had deep dark eyes. His nose was a little too aquiline and his chin might be too long, but otherwise, to Mary's eyes, he was perfect.

And nice, too. Well, except that morning.

Her mom's unbending voice scolded her: "Crushes are ridiculous. A smart girl like you does not crush on anybody."

Whatever.

She had to get to Bradford.

* * *

The road to Bradford was rather boring.

One hand on the handle, Mary ate the potato scones she had bought at the supermarket before leaving Harrogate, then, once she had finished them off, put the radio at full blast. One distraction at a time.

Mary was rather proud of her car. It was a red second-hand Mini Cooper, that she had bought with her father's money. Had it been her mother's, she would have thought about giving it back, but given her... _special_ relationship with Thomas, she felt he owed her at least a car.

After a year spent commuting in the Parisian suburbs, driving in the British countryside did her good.

The green rolling hills, the pretty stone cottages, the sweet old ladies told her she was home.

But around Bradford, the landscapes changed. All of a sudden, everything she could see was tall concrete buildings, abandoned factory chimneys and yellowish neon signs.

The city centre's wide streets were empty. Some lost tourists, teenagers smoking or eating were wandering around aimlessly. The shopping centre where the landlords had told her to park her car clashed with its pretentious modernity, its bright pastel colors and its fashion brand shops. And by the looks of it, it was also empty.

In the lift, a strange, disembodied voice was pronouncing ununderstanble words.

Mary wondered whether she had fallen into an apocalyptic world.

"It must be the holidays", she thought, and firmly decided to think about it no more.

The apartment she had rented belonged to a large block that belonged itself to a larger complex.

The landlord was nowhere to be seen, though, and Mary couldn't even get in the hallway.

Eventually, an Indian man with a heavy accent got out of the building, held the door for her and disappeared outside.

Okay, so he was not the landlord.

Mary sat on a dirty couch and waited.

 _What if he was a gang dealer?_

A tattooed man and a tattooed woman went out with their baby - who was not tattooed yet.

A veiled woman came down carrying the bins to put them out.

A black girl with an afro cut ran out with her headphones on.

The veiled woman came back.

Yet another family went out.

The Indian man came back holding a Superdry bag and threw her a sympathetic look.

A girl with her wrist in a plaster cast came running down the stairs in slippers.

"Miss Bennet?"

Mary stared at the girl in shock. She was probably younger than her, maybe the same age as Kitty.

This _couldn't_ be the landlord.

"Bah said he couldn't come to meet you, so here I am", the girl explained, sniffing noisily and wiping her nose with her plastered hand.

"Ba what?" Mary asked, still stunned.

"Bah. The landlord", the girl replied, as though she was talking to a retarted person.

She sniffed again.

"I'll show you to your apartment."

She wiped her nose again.

They got out in the street and walked to another block. The girl was still in her bunny ears slippers.

They walked down a long corridor until the girl stopped.

"So that's your apartment. Hope you like it", she added automatically after a while, like a forgotten sentence of a lesson.

Mary nodded politely.

Sniff. Wipe.

"This is courtesy of the landlord." The girl showed a pack of eggs and two plastic bags with slices of toast and chocolate chip buns.

Mary thanked her with a tight smile.

"Is there anything else you need?"

"Do you know if there is..." she started.

The girl frowned. And sniffed loudly.

... anything to do in Bradford?

"Never mind."

If there was anything to be said from the girl's glum face... there surely was nothing fun around.

* * *

"Mom?"

"Oh, hi, Mary. Is everything fine?"

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's great."

"How's the job?"

"I loved it, everybody was so nice."

"And the apartment?"

"Um, yeah, it's cozy."

"Are you sure everything's fine?"

"Yes, mom. Don't worry."

"You know I'll send money whenever you need it, okay?"

"I know, mom. Thanks."

"And if you don't feel good, you can always come home."

"Yeah, mom, I know. Is your job tiring? At the bank?"

"Mary, I don't say I'm tired. Saying you're tired...

"... makes you feel tired. I know, mom. But still. Take care, okay? If you're exhausted, just call me and I'll be right here."

"You don't have to worry for me, Mary. I'm the mom."

"That's the point, mom."

"Mary..."

"Whatever, mom. I've gotta go. Take care, mom. Bye."

There was a long silence at the other end.

Then a click and a beep.

Mary put the phone back on the bed and let out a heavy sigh.

When had her relationship with her mother become so complicated?

Maybe she should have told her that she was going to go study in Paris. Lauren had seen that as evidence that Mary was trying to flee far away from her. It was only partly true. Mary loved her mother, but the control she tried to maintain in her daughter's life felt stifling. Especially when said daughter was twenty years old.

Mary looked at the clock.

4 PM.

Time to go.


	3. Chapter 3 - Dinner at Darcy Cottage

Usually, Mary would have been delighted to drive through the hills in the Peak District.  
But not today.  
She was annoyed at the landlord who had not told her what a mess the aparment actually was. She was worried about her mom.  
In other words, she needed a good complaining session.

She took her phone in one hand while keeping a hand on the handle. She had never done it before, because she knew how dangerous it was, but after all, she had seen Charlie - Jane's boyfriend - do it all the time, with his smooth moves and his never disappearing carefree smile. If Charlie could do it... and Charlie was _cool_...

She laughed in self-deprecation about how ridiculous she was being.  
If only she could let her insecurities go...  
But then, how many times had she heard others call her a "nerd", a "know-it-all"?  
She had sworn to change... even though she had no idea how to do it without risking losing herself.

"Mary? _Coucou_ , Mary?"

Anna's voice brought a smile back to her face.

The two girls had met in Paris. On her first day at school, in the beautiful, majestic, so French building on the famed _rue d'Ulm_ , Mary had felt so lonely and so lost. Until Anna had approached her, with a huge smile on her face, and had started speaking to her in French on a volubile, good-humored tone. When she had learned that her stunned companion was a Cambridge exchange student, she had laughed uncontrollably and apologized in what was a mixture of French and English - very good English, Anna was perfectly fluent, but she liked speaking "frenglish", otherwise it wouldn't be _rigolo_ , would it? From that moment onwards, Mary and Anna had become inseparable, and their "frenglish" was their code language.

"Oh Anna, it's so good to hear you! _Ca va_?"  
" _Ouaip_. Et toi?"  
"No."  
Mary heard a shuffle on the other end. She could almost see Anna toss her hair behind her, take a pillow and sit on her small, pink couch.  
"Okay, girl. I'm listening. What's wrong?"  
"The apartment is super _bizarre_. The door doesn't close, the corridor stinks, the so-called "presents" came from a discount market - can you believe it, a discount market? I mean, I don't have anything against discount markets, but come on! It's not a gift shop, for God's sake!"  
"Oh, _purée_..." Anna muttered.  
"And the job is great, but there was that guy, the temp manager..."  
"What did he do?" her friend asked, alarmed. She knew how much Mary had suffered from the Wickham fiasco last year, and was like a mama bear to her around suspect boys.  
"Don't worry, he's nothing like, well, you know who. He's just so... so... so... cute, and you know how I get, and I avoided him but he talked to me and it was awkward, I bet he thinks I'm crazy!"  
Anna laughed.  
"Chill! How old is he? Wasn't the manager supposed to be your friend's father?"  
"No, he's on holiday. And I don't know. He looks young, thirty, I would say."  
"Okay." Mary imagined Anna's finger wriggling in the air. "Mary, that's too old. Take a nice _beau gosse_ who's twenty something and stop that."  
"That's not a bad idea, Anna", Mary observed. "If I call him granny, he will hate me so much that he won't approach me for all the money in the world."  
Anna snickered.

Oh sh...

Was that a...

... dog?

The car screeched to a halt.

She knew it wasn't a good idea to call while driving.

"Mon Dieu", she heard Anna say, "what was that sound?"  
"I... I nearly ran over a thing that looked like a dog."  
"Mary!" Anna shrieked in the phone. "Are you driving?"  
"Yup, and don't yell like that. My poor heart is going to have an attack. _Oui, oui,_ I promise never to do it again. Call you back later, _salut_."  
"Don't kill! Don't die!" she heard Anna shout before hanging up.

It was not her lucky day.  
A car, that she hadn't even noticed on her rear-view mirror, honked loudly at her.

Definitely not her lucky day.

* * *

At half past five, Mary arrived at Liam's countryhouse. Near the wooden doorway, a engraved inscription read: "DARCY COTTAGE".

Liam Darcy and Elizabeth had met two years ago. They had had an on-and-off relationship that had annoyed Mary just a trifle - why did it take them so long to make a decision? - but he was now Elizabeth's boyfriend, and - Mary would bet her life on it - her soon-to-be half-brother-in-law. He came from a noble family and, therefore, owned a few acres here and there. Even though Liam's titles did not impress her in the least, Mary was sure that Elizabeth was as spoiled as she deserved to.

As the panels opened to let her car in, the cottage appeared.

Mary was stunned by what she saw. The house was big, too big to be just a cottage, but it was not a castle either: it was probably the happy medium between charming and beautiful. The sunshines that fell on the house highlighted the pink shades of the limestone, and the English-styled garden that surrounded its walls looked magical.  
She parked her car on the sandy yard, thinking that it was a shame to deface such a perfect bucolic setting with cars - yes, even her red Mini seemed out of place to her eyes.  
She walked to the door, pressed the little bell and listened to the "ring-ring" echoing in the house.

On top of the door, a stone deer head was looking down at her.

This was ridiculous. She should not be nervous about visiting her sister and her boyfriend.

But Elizabeth's opinion mattered a lot to Mary.

Elizabeth was five years older, and she had always been there while Mary was growing up, with Jane, who was one year Elizabeth's senior, like two lenient big sisters to offset Lauren's strictness. From the time when she was a small child, Mary remembered their smiling faces, two girls playing with her, kissing and hugging her.  
She remembered how teenage Mary had tried to show them that she had grown up, telling them about what she had read in thick, dusty books. She remembered their expressions of bored tenderness as they listened.  
She remembered telling them over the phone not to come over, pretexting that she was too busy doing her homework.  
She remembered that horrible, horrible night last year, the wailing police sirens, Lydia's heartwrenching sobs, Kitty's desperately wide-opened eyes, Elizabeth's cold hands on her welted wrists, Jane's tears rolling on her pale cheeks. And how they had cried all together in one another's arms.

And how Elizabeth had whispered, in an apologetic tone: "You're so brave, Mary, I wouldn't have had your courage..."

Her sister's words had soothed her mind.  
Because Elizabeth always meant when she said, Mary valued her approval.

And now she was standing on the doorstep, after one year apart, and she wondered: What would Elizabeth think about her?

The door opened and Elizabeth appeared. She was beautiful, with her long black hair falling on her shoulders; her blue summer dress emphasized her big dark eyes and hugged innocently her slender figure.  
Liam was standing behind her, one arm draped casually around her waist. He was as handsome as ever, curly brown hair and serious brown eyes. But he looked happier and more relaxed than the last time Mary had seen him.

They were both smiling widely.

"Oh my God, Mary!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "It's been so long!"  
She stepped forward and hugged her, releasing her only for Liam to come closer and kiss her on the cheek.

Mary smiled affectionately at them.  
They were both shining with happiness and looked perfect together.

"The house is so beautiful", she said simply. "Thanks."  
"Don't think about it", Elizabeth replied laughingly. "Come on, let's go inside."

* * *

A few minutes later, they were all sitting around the coffee table in the living room, a large, brightly lit room where paintings of gentlemen in redingotes and ladies in puffed dresses hung on the walls. Mary and Liam were sipping tea from delicate china cups while Elizabeth was downing a Schweppes can. Liam was shaking his head.  
"She's so very wild. Sweetie, what an appalling lack of elegance."  
Elizabeth swatted his hand.  
"Pfff... he always says that. Don't mind him, Mary."

Mary smiled indulgently. To be perfectly honest, she found them a tad stupid.  
But well, why not be stupid together?

"Um, Mary..." her half-sister started, looking a bit guilty. "You know, Charlotte... well, William and she are spending their holidays in Scotland, so... I invited them to stop here and have dinner with us... tonight. You don't mind?"  
"William?"  
"William Collins", Liam explained obligingly.  
"I know, but..." Mary was astounded. How could Elizabeth's best friend be with someone as... as boring as William Collins?

The look in Elizabeth's eyes talked her out of asking that question out loud.

"It's okay", Mary quickly assured, thinking the exact contrary.

She felt uncomfortable around William. Not because of him, but because her half-sisters and her father had always seen him as her male alter ego: a straight-laced bookworm. He was an engineer in geothermal energy and loved talking about it: you could sleep, and even snooze next to him, he wouldn't even notice.  
And even Mary, with all her insecurities and self-consciousness, knew that she was nothing like William Collins.

* * *

Charlotte and William arrived an hour later. After the greetings and the excited embraces of Charlotte and Elizabeth, they all sat around the dinner table - in another living room, which was even larger and more heavily decorated.

Mary was busy eating, smiling, looking interested and avoiding questions about herself all at the same time, and she was faring quite well.  
Just a few more minutes, she thought, and then it'll be over.

William's sizzling voice rose across the table.

"So, Mary..."

Oh no no no.

"... are your studies at Trinity College not too hard for you?"  
What a little...  
"It's fine."  
She punctuated her sentence with a polite but distant smile.

"Actually", Charlotte explained joyfully, "Mary is studying in Paris. Isn't that awesome?"  
"But Paris is awfully expensive!" William's puffy cheeks were turning pink of indignation.  
"I'm staying in boarding school, so it's not that expensive. Thanks for your concern, though", she added. Her smile was fading.  
"I hope you know what you're doing, Mary. Isn't your father in charge of two other kids?"

There was a short, dazed silence on the table, then Charlotte put a hand on her boyfriend's sleeve and said: "Mind your own business, darling!", while Elizabeth was defending Mary - "don't judge my sister, William, she's surely more responsible than you!" - and Mary was saying tiredly that Kitty and Lydia were not kids, they were respectively seventeen and sixteen. Then there was a heavy, long silence again.

Mary braced herself for the next homily. She knew William would not give up that easily.

"Your father isn't rich, is he? I know how rich people are", he lowered his voice, as if he were telling a big secret, "since my superior, Mrs de Bourgh..."  
Things were looking up, Mary thought. Catherine de Bourgh was William's next favourite subject after geothermal energy.  
She started sinking the grains of rice in the curry coconut sauce, thoroughly, making sure that all the white turned yellow.

Suddenly, she realized that all eyes were turned on her.  
She coughed.  
"Um, sorry, I was lost in thoughts... What did you say?"  
"I was asking...", William repeated slowly, with a sufficient look.

Him again? Why couldn't he just shut up?  
Was that a punishment from whoever was doing this to her for the dog she had frightened on the road?

"... what does your mother think about all this? I've heard about how poor..."

Oh... this was the final straw.

So Mary decided to resort to the strategy that she always used at awkward dinners.  
"You know what I was thinking, William? I was thinking..." she made her most knowing face "your researches about sedimentary basins..."  
She could see Elizabeth's eyes begging her not to do that and Charlotte's resigned sigh. Only Liam threw her a sympathetic look.  
Whatever. She needed to get out of the room, quickly.  
"... are probably useless. For the energy that they are going to provide, the drilling costs are awfully expensive, don't you think?"  
William was practically fuming.  
"That's not true! Why can't you see that..."  
"You know what", Mary cut in, "I'm gonna go check on the Internet what specialists" take that, you moron "think about the issue."  
"The residential gateway is in the library", Liam told her with a half-amused, half-pitying look.

Mary virtually ran away from the room.

* * *

In the corridor, at the other end of the house, Mary stopped and leaned against the wall.

All the bad events of the day came back to her, flooding her with all their strength: the shopping centre where she was so lost this morning, Luke Lester - she made a fool of herself in front of him - , the apartment, so different from the bright, shiny apartment that she had expected, the dog, William's hurtful comments.

She desperately blinked her eyes.

But they were already blurred with tears.

PS: Thank you to all my readers! I hope you liked the chapter! Please leave a review to let me know what you thought about it.  
To my reviewers: thank you so much for your support, it has really motivated me.  
To my guest reviewer: I hope this chapter has answered your questions!

I'll update my story every week or so.


	4. Chapter 4 - Night out in Harrogate

5 AM.  
The phone on the table vibrated noisily. Michael Bublé's voice loudly disrupted the morning silence.  
Mary tossed around in her covers, drowsily raising her hand to stop the alarm.

The store on the window was half-opened, since Mary had always been afraid of the dark. Beams of sunlight were warming the room, turning the dull, yellowish color of the walls into a warmer shade of beige.  
Mary slowly got up, with a very long, sound yawn, and fully opened the store.  
The elegant beige morphed into a bright gay yellow.  
Outside, Mary could see the neatly arranged brick tiles of the building across. The view was as boring as ever, but now that the reddish stones seemed to have absorbed the rays of sunshine that hit them, it looked less stifling and severe.  
Well, Mary thought. Morning had worked its magic.

She happily fished out a huge strawberry white chocolate scone from a paper bag.  
She had bought it yesterday, in a bakery near Darcy Cottage. The old-fashioned decoration and the delicious-looking pastries on the shelves had lured her in.

Darcy Cottage…  
She could not stop memories of yesterday's events coming back to her memory. Emotions flooded her: indescribable rage towards William Collins, shame for having left in such a rush, remorse and a bit of annoyance when she remembered Elizabeth's worried and pained look.  
The bread's sweet taste turned sour.

Mary could feel the start of a headache.  
It was probably because she did not get a lot of sleep last night. To stop herself from replaying last night's fiasco over and over in her head, she had decided to watch an episode of a criminal TV show she had heard about. She had ended up watching five others until she grew so tired that she could not even firmly hold the remote control, and much less _think_ about anything at all.

Goodness. What a spoiled morning.

Mary put the scone back on the table and back in its paper bag.

* * *

When she arrived at the bar in Harrogate, everyone was already busy tidying, cleaning and decorating.  
"Oh crap… I'm sorry. Am I late?"  
Kelly enthusiastically waved at her from the counter.  
"Hi Mary! It's so sunny today, have you seen that?"  
"Please", Luke, who was standing next to her, pleaded. "No more talk about the weather. Hi, Mary. Feeling good today?"  
Mary wavered. Should she answer in the same tone, or say "Thank you sir, are you fine as well?"? He was the manager after all…  
Just then, a towel came flying from behind her. Luke swore and removed the towel from his head.  
"Excellent aim", Tim commented.  
"Please, Hugh, do me a favor. Only throw clean towels, this one stinks."  
"Anyway Luke", Tim continued. "I agree with you. No more small talk about the weather."  
Hugh snorted.  
"What?"  
"Talk about smelly soap. Change it, Lester."  
"I'm not the manager here, it's Kelly. Please, Kelly, do change it."  
Kelly scrunched her nose. "No. Marcus's gonna be mad. I bet he likes this soap, since he keeps it."  
Hugh snorted again.  
"You're so funny, Kelly. Of course Marcus does not like this shitty soap. It's just _cheap_."  
"I think you're mistaken here. It is impossible to keep a soap you do not like for so long."  
"Guys", Oliver interrupted. "You're boring Mary. Mary, don't mind them. You don't have to listen."

For the first time in the morning, Mary felt her lips curving irresistibly in a genuine smile.  
Working here was going to be fun.

* * *

The shopping center was about to close. Luke could tell.  
There was that very particular atmosphere in shopping centers at late hours. Shops were shutting their stores half down while employees cleaned up and pushed the flashy sales racks back inside. Eventually, the stores would wholly shut down and soon not a single soul was to be seen. It felt like the end of a world, and just watching this felt exhausting.  
It had been so long since Luke had last worked on the field. He had forgotten that feeling of finishing a shift and leaving work behind.

"Hey." Oliver nudged him in the ribs. "Attention please. How about eating out all together tonight?"  
Sunny nodded.  
"That's good. For our three rookies."  
Mary laughed softly, and Sunny turned to her with a wide smile.

She was a strange one. She did not talk a lot, she did not smile a lot, and she was not very pretty. But still, she had a peculiar, very unique charm. Her words held a strange mixture of candor and sarcasm that he found entertaining, and her tentatively feminine style, which hinted at curves in her slight built silhouette, made her look adorable. And when she smiled and laughed, her whole face seemed to light up.

Kelly, he guessed, was her exact opposite. She talked a lot, laughed very loudly for nothing in particular, and she was tall, slender and curvaceous. Right now she was scrolling down the phone of her screen – carefully encased in a bright pink case – with her perfectly manicured nails. All in all, she was very much alike the socialites that could be met at his mother's fancy parties – with that little touch of innocence that astonished him.

"Hello?" Sunny waved his hand under Luke's nose. "So are you coming tonight, yes or no?"  
"Huh?"  
"Anyways, what are you looking at?"  
Luke realized he had been staring at Kelly's fluorescent nail art.  
"Kelly… your phone case is… is… disturbingly pink."  
"Well", she retorted with a shrug, "yours is awfully boring."  
Luke laughed.

* * *

The sky was turning to a soft shade of pink as they were walking down the streets of Harrogate to the Victoria, the night club the boys had decided to go to.  
"By the way, Hugh", Tim suddenly said. "I found an interesting mathematic enigma that you could maybe help me solve."  
Hugh made the snort that Mary had now grown accustomed to.  
"You should know, Mary, that when this… this person says this sentence, it means the exact opposite."  
"Huh?"  
"It means: "I found a super difficult mathematic enigma that I spent hours solving and that you could maybe solve in less than five minutes, else I'm going to call you a moron.""  
"No need to be accountable towards a med student."  
"No need to show off just because you are a math student."  
The two stared at each other in feigned animosity while Mary was shifting her gaze uncomfortably.  
"Anyway, what do you study, Mary?" Hugh asked.  
"Um… civil engineering…"  
Tim rubbed his hands with an evil smile.  
"Oooohhh… civil engineering. Isn't that interesting? Could the engineer and the doctor compete with the famed mathematician that I am?"

Mary felt immediately comfortable talking to Patrick. He was the oldest, the most reliable one and probably the gentlest man on Earth.  
"I'm thinking about asking my girlfriend to marry me", he earnestly explained her. "Well, probably after New Year, since I'm gonna be promoted. It's really great you're studying engineering, that makes a lot of money. I'm probably gonna remain a waiter forever."  
"You don't like it?"  
"Well, I would like it better if I were to work in a night club, the kind we are going tonight. It's sort of cooler, you know, you get to meet a lot of people."  
"A lot of _drunk_ people."  
"I guess that's true. Oh, and, thumbs up for the way you shut Tim down earlier. Time for him to fall off his high horse."  
"Oh, that was not intentional", Mary said hastily. "I did not intend to…"  
"What, what, what?" Sunny crashed in. "What happened? Tim got what?"  
"It's just…" Mary tried explaining.  
"It was just _great_." Patrick emphasized. "So Tim was all high and mighty, and he was like: "So, what's the formal definition of the sequence that goes like: 3, 27, 136…""  
"243", Mary corrected.  
"Yeah, whatever… and he said, "Well, let us see if you solve that before sunset!", and Mary just cut him off, and she said: "That's 2 power x minus 2!", and his face…"  
"2 power 2x minus 1."  
"Yeah, whatever… well, you should have seen his face. Looked like a fish!"  
Sunny snickered and jokingly tugged at Mary's braid. Oliver, who had materialized out of nowhere, patted her on the shoulders.  
"Yeah, that was cool… You should do it again. Just for Tim's face."

* * *

"There it is!"  
The Victoria was a huge night club. Its flashy neon lights clashed with the building's puritan architecture, but strangely enough, this unthinkable combination managed to somehow convey elegance and energy to the atmosphere.

The inside, however, looked like the inside of any other bar.  
Mary tensed up.  
"Are you okay?"  
She started at Luke's voice.  
"Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you. You were suddenly pale, that's why I asked."  
Mary let a short, unconvincing laugh.  
"No, I'm fine," she said, trying very hard to banish any memories of Wickham of her mind.  
When she raised her head, she was met with the sight of his concerned dark eyes.  
She laughed again, a bit nervously.  
"It's just that… I'm more of a morning person, you see… I'm not really used to places like this… but… but you'll teach me all about it, right?"  
Luke put his arm around her shoulders.  
"Of course. First… let's teach you all about the cocktails. All about the cocktails…"

* * *

Mary was sipping slowly from her glass. It was her first one, and still half empty, while the others had already moved on to their second shot.  
"What are you drinking, Mary?" Kelly asked.  
"Sex on the beach."  
"Whoo whoo. Hot hot hot!"  
"You don't like it?" Patrick asked, concernedly.  
"No, I'm enjoying my first cocktail at a night club."  
The seven others smiled indulgently.  
"Isn't she cute", Oliver said.  
"I love her already", Sunny approved.  
Kelly stood up.  
"I'm going to the toilet. Mary, mind coming with me?"

* * *

"Mary?"  
"Mmh?"  
"Which guy do you think is the hottest?"  
"Wh… what?"  
"Oh come on, you've got six guys available. Don't tell me you're not planning to snatch one?"  
"Um…"  
"Well, six minus one, since Patrick's taken."  
"Well, um…"  
"Luke's definitely hot. You mind if I take him?"  
"Um…"  
"I mean, do you guys know each other?"  
"No, why?"  
"You arrived together yesterday morning, and he was acting all cozy around you when he showed you the cocktail menu, so I figured…"  
"No, not at all."  
"So you don't mind?"  
"No…"  
"Oh, thank you! I'm going back inside, I'm gonna be that beguiling seductress… Lol, just joking. And you'll have to tell me which one you're gonna pick!"

Mary thought she really had had another think coming when she had imagined yesterday that he was interested in her…  
Of course he would not be.


	5. Chapter 5 - So that's the new me

"Look at the guy I hooked up with last week", Kelly said to Mary over the counter

The boys were watching a football match on the other end of the empty bar.  
Mary was mechanically wiping the squeaky clean counter. She glanced at the boys who were slumped on chairs in front of the TV. Although Patrick, Hugh and Oliver were very seriously telling this or that footballer what they should have done, Luke seemed bored, Sunny's eyes were glued on his phone's screen and Tim was snoozing.

"Ma-a-a-ry", Kelly wailed.  
She looked at the picture Kelly was showing her.  
"Oh? That's not Luke."  
"I tried, but he's not interested", Kelly explained with her chirpy voice. "And this guy was cute too, so I thought, why not? Besides", she added, whispering mysteriously, "I'm pretty sure Luke likes you."

Mary's heart skipped a beat.

"You're so funny, Kelly", she answered, with a little laugh. "Of course he does not."  
Kelly winked and poked her on the ribs: "Do you want evidence?"  
Mary did not say anything and kept wiping the same spot away.  
"Well… that night, when you left, he got all worried about you being alright at night on the roads… And he kept asking me about you. I was very clear about what I wanted though…" she said with a childish pout, "or so I think. And I'm prettier than you. So I think he's really into you."  
Kelly would be surprisingly frank at times. She said things like that matter-of-factly, with no ulterior motive.

"You should have told me you liked him when I asked you."  
"I don't."  
"Oh, come on. He likes you, too."  
"He doesn't."  
"Do you want more evidence?"

"What are you talking about?" Luke asked from where he was sitting. He stood up and drew nearer to the girls.  
"Nothing", Mary answered quickly.  
"Nothing", Kelly confirmed.

Luke raised a quizzical eyebrow.  
"Anyway, Patrick told me we could take a break for an hour or so. I need to go buy presents for a family dinner soon. Anyone interested? The guys are hopeless, so I'm trying my chance with you two…"  
"I'll come with you", Mary said. "I've got a family dinner coming soon, too, so I need to go gift hunting anyway."  
"Oh, shopping together…" Kelly cooed mockingly. "That's so cute…"

Luke and Mary turned to her in sync.  
"Shut up."

* * *

"So who are you buying gifts for?" Luke asked.  
"Well, three of my sisters…"  
"Does that mean you have more sisters?"  
"Four. We're half-sisters to be more accurate, but we're really close…"  
"Wow. That must be fun. I'm an only child, so I'm kind of jealous right now."

Mary shook her head.  
"You know, if you have two half-sisters and two other half-sisters, it means your family life is complicated."  
"Is it?"  
"You don't want to know", Mary said wryly. "That's why guest lists in our family dinners are so scattered. I think that this time, Elizabeth only invited us – not Kitty, she's gone to summer camp abroad –, her mother, her step-father, their twins, her – our – father, and her boyfriend is inviting his little sister and his cousin."  
"Goodness, that makes a lot of gifts to buy."  
"Wait, that's not over. I'm 99.9% sure that my father's wife is going to show up too, and Liam's aunt is going to drag her protégé to their house, with a 100% chance."  
"Well, you don't really have to buy gifts for them, do you? They are uninvited guests, after all."  
"That's what Lydia says, too. But I don't want them spitting fire over dinner, it makes it all the more unpleasant."

"That's easier for me, then. Family dinners are always the same: my parents, my uncles and aunts and my cousins."  
"Neat", Mary observed. " _I_ am jealous now."  
Luke laughed good-humouredly.  
"So you do that every month?"  
"Oh goodness, of course not." Mary could not stop laughing at the absurdity of it. "Of course not, or I am sure someone would have gotten killed by now. No, this is just for Elizabeth and Liam to announce _something_ …"

"Isn't that what you call an engagement party?"  
"An engagement party and a family dinner are two drastically different things, Luke, and _this_ is a family dinner. Then, Elizabeth and Liam are going to wait for a good two months for everyone to take in the news, and only afterwards they will throw their engagement party."

"Oh…"  
"Yeah, my family is awful", Mary said with a shrug, internally thinking that she had ruined all her chances with Luke. If she had any to start with.  
"Well…"  
"Let's go buy those gifts, okay?"

* * *

Luke was at a loss to find the perfect present for everyone.  
He helplessly watched Mary throw items one after the other in her bag, while he still had bought nothing at all.  
How did she do that?

"Luke?"  
"Huh?"  
Mary was bending towards him, over a case full of decorated towels.  
"Tell me honestly."  
Luke blinked and nodded. What did she want to know?  
"Is this your first time shopping for gifts?"  
He turned red. Was it that obvious?

Mary giggled.  
"How did you manage before?"  
"I asked my secretary. It always worked."  
"Your secretary?" Mary seemed puzzled. "Just how rich are you if you have a secretary at your beck and call?"  
"I'm…"

But he decided not to tell her about him being co-CEO of Crock. He feared that if she learned about that, it would only widen the gap between them, and that was not what he wanted.  
"I'm a manager at Croc, so I have a secretary. And I'm so hot she does everything I ask", he said with a wink.

"Pff…"  
"Don't you think I'm hot?"  
Mary blushed.  
"Oh, you blushed!" he exclaimed. "You think I'm hot!"  
"No, I don't", she protested.  
"You like me!"  
"No, I don't."  
"That's okay, I like you too."  
"Alright." Mary clapped her hands. "Quit joking. Whose present are we buying now?"

Luke sighed dejectedly. He was falling for Mary, but he had no idea how to make her notice it. She never flirted back when he unsubtly hit on her, she never leaned on him when he put his arms around her shoulders, and she never got flustered when he touched her.  
Or maybe she knew. And she was ignoring him.  
Yet, Mary was sweet and nice. She would never do something like that.  
Or perhaps she was afraid of men? He remembered the expression on her face that first day. Had something happened to her in the past?

"For example: what is your aunt like?"  
Oh yes, the gifts.

"Honestly, I don't really know."  
He thought about the stifled atmosphere of the dining room at his parents' mansion.  
"When we were younger, my cousins and I would trash food and tableware, so family dinners were fun, even if our parents went crazy. But I guess we… we… well, we grew up. We barely talk now."  
Mary smiled softly.  
"Well, try resuming trashing food everywhere, then", she said mischievously.

"I only know my aunt's a screenwriter."  
"Wow." Mary seemed genuinely impressed. "For which shows? No, don't tell me, I don't know anything about TV. My youngest sister Lydia does, though. She loves everything that's related to TV, cinema and all those flashy things."

"Tell me what to buy for her, and I'll get them to meet."  
"What about a paperweight?"  
Luke snapped his fingers in triumph.  
"That's genius! And who are these towels for?"

"Elizabeth's half-twins."  
"What are they like?"  
"Two very cute boys. They must be ten now. They are putting hairspray all over their head now. Kinda like Justin Bieber."  
Luke laughed.  
"Don't you have pictures?" he pleaded.  
"Nah, I don't see them that often. Maddie, Elizabeth's mother, is really nice, but you know… I'm still the daughter of the man who left her. So there's always that line I can't cross."  
She rummaged through the case for a while longer, replaced a blue towel with a striped one.  
"Towels are useful for anyone. Come on, we need to go get the paperweight."

Luke looked at her. She seemed so very fragile at that very moment. For the others, she played tough to hide the wounds that life had left all over her heart.  
She turned around to call him and smiled at him, and for an instant, he was struck by the sad beauty in her hazel eyes.

* * *

One morning, when Mary arrived at work, she was met by a frantic Sunny.  
When she asked him what was going on, he only answered her: "Today's Tuesday!"

She was quite baffled by this puzzling answer. Kelly shrugged.  
The other boys snickered.

"Tuesday is the hot customer's day", Oliver explained. "A Mr. Jack Nightingale comes to this bar on Tuesday morning, and, according to Sunny here, he's super hot…"  
"According to Sunny", Tim repeated.  
"Sunny?"  
"Yeah, he's gay", Patrick clarified.  
"Sunny!" Kelly called. "Are you really gay?"  
"Jack Nightingale works in the fashion industry in all likelihood," Oliver continued, "since he always brings a stack of fashion magazines here. He lives a few streets away from here, on the fifth floor…"  
"Did you stalk him?"  
The boys looked sheepish, apart from Patrick, who raised his hands to show his non-involvement.

"He's a smoking hot, sizzling demigod", Sunny assured her. "Just wait and watch."

* * *

A few hours later, Sunny started pacing up and down the bar. "He's coming soon, he's coming soon!" he repeated to Mary.

Just at that moment, her phone rang. "Goodness, it's my sister. Can I just take this call, Kelly, Luke?"  
Kelly neglectfully waved her hand and Luke moved to take her place behind the counter.

Mary went outside.

Actually, this was just Kitty. She had bought a present for Elizabeth and Liam, but she did not know where to deliver it. Her mother did not like Elizabeth, and Charles, who lived with Jane, just could not keep a secret from his best friend. Mary reassured her and told her to send it at her address in Bradford. Then, she called her landlord to ask him to take care of any parcel that may come in the day, and when he told her he was too busy, she called the post office to ask for a Poste Restante service. She eventually had to call Kitty back to give her the address of the post office and the spelling of Poste Restante.

When she went back in the shop, she rushed to the counter, where Luke was still standing.

Sunny looked compassionately at her.  
"You missed him."  
"Who?"  
"Well, Captain Hottie!"

"Oh, shit. How hot was he?" she asked Luke.  
"Not as much as me", he answered, with a boyish grin. "No one beats me", he said, placing a hand on her arm.  
She shivered.  
To be honest, she did not really know what to make of him. Of course, he had said he liked her when they were shopping, but he was joking, wasn't he?

"We're lucky", Sunny said. "Jackie forgot one of his fashion magazines. Wanna take a look with me at lunch, Mary?"

* * *

"Oh, Rachel McAdams dyed her hair pink… Don't you think it suits her?"  
"Well, let's say Rachel McAdams always looks good…"

Sunny seemed to ponder an idea.  
"Why don't you dye your hair pink too? I mean, you've got blonde hair, and you look like her…"  
"I don't!"  
"But it would look really good on you", Sunny insisted.  
"Does temporary dye exist, then?"  
"Of course! Please, please, please. Pink-haired Mary would be so cute!"

Mary really wanted to do something crazy. And going to the hairdresser's with Sunny to get her hair colored seemed nicely crazy.  
"Okay. But only pink streaks, alright?"

* * *

"So this is the hairdresser I told you about."  
Mary extended her hand, but the man in front of her engulfed her in a big hug.  
"Nice to meet you. It's always nice to meet my boyfriend's friends."  
"Boyfriend? You never told me that, Sunny!"  
Sunny looked down shyly, and the other two laughed.

* * *

An hour later, Mary was admiring her pink-colored strands of hair in the mirror. It looked unexpectedly good.

She took a photograph with her phone and found it to be not too bad. For Luke, she wrote: "Here's the new me. Like it?", added the picture and hit "send".

In the mirror, she could see Sunny and his boyfriend smile softly at her.

She took another look at herself, and she smiled too.

PS: Please read and review!


End file.
